A Madison County jury did not reach a verdict Friday in the capital murder trial of LaJaromeny Brown, who admitted during testimony he shot and killed Huntsville police officer Billy Clardy III in a 2019 undercover drug operation.

The jury discussed the case for about 30 minutes late Thursday afternoon before deliberating almost six hours Friday. At that point, the jury told the judge they were tired and wanted to break for the weekend.

“Thank you for your diligence,” Madison County Circuit Judge Chris Comer told the jury just before releasing them. “We know you’re working hard.”

On Friday morning, the jury asked Comer to repeat instructions on the requirements needed to reach a guilty verdict for capital murder. The judge slowly re-read the instructions he gave Thursday afternoon as jurors jotted his words into their notebooks.

The judge also asked the jury if they needed instructions on the lesser charge of felony murder. None of the jurors raised their hands.

The jury will resume deliberations Monday morning. A conviction of capital murder would result in a sentence of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. If the jury returns that guilty verdict, it would then determine the sentence.

Brown shot Clardy three times inside an abandoned north Huntsville house on Levert Street in the operation designed to capture Brown – who arrived at the scene believing he was selling 100 pounds of marijuana to an interested customer, unknown to Brown to be an undercover drug task force officer.

Prosecutors said Brown fled the house after the shooting and he was captured moments later about a block away.

The trial revealed that there was no doubt that Brown was the shooter who killed Clardy. Brown confessed that he shot him during testimony Thursday, apologized to the Clardy family and expressed remorse. Prosecutors Tim Douthit and Tim Gann of the Madison County district attorney’s office questioned the sincerity of that apology during their closing arguments Thursday.

After taking more than a week to select a jury, the trial itself began Wednesday and wrapped up in less than three days. Brown, taking the stand in his own defense, was the only witness called by defense attorneys.

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